


When the Soft Hits You Hard

by literaryempress



Category: How to Get Away with Murder
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Love, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Presents, Puppies, Relationship(s), Restaurants, Surprises, Teddy Bears, Tumblr Prompt, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 12:58:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6006880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literaryempress/pseuds/literaryempress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With a trip to Buffalo Wild Wings with the Keating Five, followed by a few Valentine's Day surprises, this has got to be the best Valentine's Day Oliver has ever had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When the Soft Hits You Hard

It was almost the weekend, but Laurel decided to bring the Keating Five over to Buffalo Wild Wings before Valentine’s Day festivities began. Wes was the only single one of the group and automatically felt bad for his best friend, so she decided to pay for some of his food, much to Connor and Asher’s disapproval.

Connor drove everyone there, despite it being Laurel’s planned activity for the evening, and after finding a parking space within the downtown area, Connor decided to text Oliver and let him know where they were. Oliver had been working overtime this past week, and Connor was yet to figuring out why.

“Hey man,” Asher sparked a conversation with Wes as they were walking down the street. “I’ve been single since the womb, and I understand how it feels to be lonely.”

Michaela rolled her eyes. “Until you became the teacher’s pet –“

“She’s not a teacher; she’s Annalise’s associate. There’s a difference.”

“An _age_ difference,” Michaela muttered off to the side, making Laurel laugh.

Asher dismissed Michaela’s comment and returned to Wes. “So anyway, I know how you’re feeling about the whole _Rebecca being gone_ thing.” He paused. “Okay, maybe not having a dead girlfriend or anything like that, but something similar. Okay, like your whole world just got shaken out of the Milky Way.”

Wes shrugged, his eyes still trained on the sidewalk as they found their way across the street to Buffalo Wild Wings. “Thanks, man. It means a lot.”

Connor didn’t have too much of a care in the world for Wes Gibbins ninety percent of the time. Usually the other ten percent was saved for when the Keating Five got themselves in deep shit while trying to commit to one of Annalise’s troublesome murder happenings, like the Sam Keating homicide or the Emily Sinclair death. Now, though, even if it was Wes’ fault that the Keating Five are now accomplices to Annalise’s near-death experience, he felt disappointed that he had all of these raging emotions linked to the death of his girlfriend flying around.

“What you really need right now,” Asher suggested, looking to his right and checking for oncoming cars, “is a couple of drinks. You look like you need something to get that tension off your back.”

“Don’t we all, though, Asher?” Laurel clarified.

Connor shrugged. “You would think that we needed a drink after the second week of class.”

“This has been the roughest school year ever,” Michaela agreed, memories of burying Sam Keating’s remains coming back clear as day. “I miss when life wasn’t centered around interrogating ignorant suspects and doing all of Annalise’s dirty work.”

Connor frowned at her. “W-wait a minute.” They all stopped once they reached the corner of the street, turning towards Connor behind them. “There was life before all of this?” He turned from his left to his right in pretend shock. “Have I been asleep the whole time?”

“You look like you need sleep after getting it in every hot piece of ass you see.” Michaela and Asher laughed at Laurel’s joke before heading inside the restaurant.

“Hey!” Connor protested, clearly offended by Laurel’s remark. “That was the old Connor Walsh when the trophy served its actual relevance.” He paused before his voice got a little lower. “Now that it’s tainted with Sam Keating’s blood –“

Michaela whirled around and placed an index finger on Connor’s lips. “Not here.” She gritted her teeth. “We’re in public.”

She was probably right. There was no telling if this place was infested with security cameras from the CIA or something like that.

Fifteen minutes later, the Keating Five all found a booth near the middle of the table. Michaela and Laurel had gone into the bathroom to wash their hands and check their hair while the guys waited at the booth, watching their coats and purses. Connor was on his phone, checking for any messages from Oliver before he received a really sneaky text: _I’m bringing a little friend. I’m sure he won’t disappoint_. The winking emoji and the heart-kiss emoji following it was enough to make Connor smile.

“Is that the boyfriend?” Asher asked with a smirk on his face.

“I like how everything involving me and Oliver is any of your business.”

“Hey, man. I’m just sparking conversation. I thought we were bros.”

“We’re bros as far as our law school assignments go. And Ollie likes having you over sometimes, but –“

“So he’s _Ollie_ now?” Asher tested Connor’s patience with a growing grin on his face. Connor just rolled his eyes and quickly responded to Oliver’s text before the girls returned. Connor was relieved to also see the waitress stop by so he won’t have to explain himself to Laurel and Michaela if Asher were to ever ask any questions.

“Hi, welcome to Buffalo Wild Wings,” the girl greeted everyone. “I’m Pamela, your waitress for today. Can I get any of you a drink?”

Michaela tossed some of her hair off her shoulder. “I’ll just have ice water.”

Connor snickered. “How plain of you.”

“I still have a healthy track record to keep up with, thank you very much.” Michaela barked back.

“Okay, so one glass of water,” Pamela stated as she wrote it down on her notepad.

“A Red Bull Tropical for me and my home stash over here,” Asher spoke, patting Wes on the back. Wes smiled in agreement but added ice water to his drink order just in case.

“I’ll have a Dr. Pepper,” Laurel added.

“Alright,” Pamela replied, writing down the orders before getting to Connor. “And how about you?”

“I’ll just have a Pepsi.”

“And a Sierra Mist for me.” All of the Keating Five unexpectedly heard Oliver’s voice, and when they turned their heads, they saw him walk in with a big white bag and his coat slung over his right arm.

“You made it,” Michaela cheered, sliding out of her seat in favor of beckoning Oliver right over. “So nice of you to join us.” Connor sometimes chuckled to himself at Michaela’s attempts at befriending the same man that softened Connor’s features.

Oliver sat his things beside Michaela and leaned against the booth, observing everyone there. “Traffic was kind of a bitch tonight; I thought I would have to walk five miles just to get here.” Michaela and Laurel giggled while Asher nodded understandably and Connor and Wes hung around casually.

“Actually,” Oliver stated, reaching for the white bag, “there was another reason why I was late, but don’t mind me. I’m a sap at these kinds of things –“

“You didn’t,” Laurel gasped at the realization of what’s going on. Her head turned to Connor, who started to look down bashfully.

“I did.” Connor heard Oliver say. He didn’t see the girls reacting to Oliver’s surprise, and when he looked back up at his boyfriend, lo and behold, there was a big, white teddy bear with a red tie on it. The embroidery on the tie featured a white heart near the bottom with the phrase _I love you_ on it, and Connor was at a loss of words or reactions.

“Aw yeah!” Asher cheered. “Look who pampered the hubby early this year! Bonus points for Oliver!”

Oliver had a giant smile on his face when he brought the bag with the bear in it over to Connor, leaning down to press a kiss against Connor’s lips. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” he whispered, proud of his surprise for Connor if he said so himself.

* * *

Asher, Wes, Connor, and Laurel were all watching the football game by the bar once they got some food into their system. So far, Asher was a drunken mess and literally cursing at the television – sometimes at the bartender – every time his team would end up losing the ball. Laurel tried her hardest to get Wes into the mood of the atmosphere, and Connor was just nursing a glass of beer at his side.

Oliver and Michaela stayed behind, watching everyone’s coats and sharing a conversation while still eating some boneless wings and chips and salsa.

“Do you and Caleb have any plans this year?” Oliver asked, placing a tortilla chip into his mouth.

Michaela twirled some of her hair and recalled some of the conversations they’ve been having. “Well, with the weight of the Hapstall case on everyone’s shoulders, Caleb isn’t really into the Valentine’s Day mood. However, he said that, when he’s free, we could go on a little trip away from the stressful city environment. He said he has a relative in Florida who owns a yacht and is willing to have me on his someday when our schedules aren’t so hectic.”

Oliver genuinely smiled at the news. “Really? That’s amazing.”

“I know,” Michaela stated. “Sometimes, when I think about all of that, I feel as though it’s almost too nice, you know? I love spending time with a significant other when I get the chance, but who needs a yacht trip to accomplish that?”

“Whatever happened to sipping smoothies by the beach.”

Michaela grinned. “Exactly.” Oliver giggled in agreement before the two of them continued to eat. “But it’s a very sweet gesture nonetheless.” Oliver nodded.

The team the Keating Five was rooting for scored a point, and everyone by the bar area started going wild. Asher looked as though he had almost too much to drink, jumping up and down and having his howls heard throughout the entire room. Oliver took the opportunity of looking over at his boyfriend, who was focused on the television screen and having some conversation with Laurel. It amused Oliver how Connor began interacting better with his colleagues, even if he stated that he would never call them friends.

“So I take it that Connor’s not particularly taking your gift too well,” Michaela stated, eyeing the bear still in the bag on Oliver’s left side in the booth.

Her words started taking Oliver out of his trance. He didn’t really pay attention to Connor’s reaction too much after whipping out a teddy bear for his boyfriend in the middle of a crowded restaurant. If he made Connor feel embarrassed, that wasn’t his intention at all.

In retrospect, though, with the amount of times he’s shown up at the Keating residence to work with Annalise and the Keating Five on their work, Connor’s kind of gotten used to it by now.

At least, that’s what Oliver hopes.

Oliver shrugged. “I got him one for Christmas, and he wasn’t too much into it,” he admitted. “He said it was too childish or something.”

Connor was nothing like Oliver in some aspects. He wasn’t good with computers; he wasn’t into the cheesy dating thing, especially back when their relationship was more sexual – Connor’s idea of a date would usually consist of take-out and lazy sex; and he didn’t really mind too much when he got things for his birthday or anything like that. Oliver has accepted that, but at the same time, it wasn’t really enough.

“I would give Connor more time,” Michaela stated, confident in herself. “He’s a tougher cookie at first glance, but when someone like you steps all over him, he crumbles into bits.” She paused with a shrug. “You know, soften up a bit.”

Oliver smirked. “That’s the way the cookie crumbles?”

He and Michaela shared a laugh. “Why, of course,” Michaela replied. Oliver took a sip of the second refill of Sierra Mist for the night as Michaela continued to speak. “I don’t blame him, though. He’s not the only one who takes their time to get used to things like this. I should know; it took a while to have to put up with his cheating his way to the top and Asher’s fraternity boy antics.”

“No kidding,” Oliver agreed with a light laugh.

“But trust me,” Michaela encouraged. “He’ll surprise you in more ways than one before you know it.”

The combination of Michaela’s words and the cool beverage running through Oliver’s system put the IT guy into a lot of thought. Before their first break-up, Connor’s main intentions were sexual relationships, whether it be for general pleasure or to get information out of someone. Connor has changed since then. Not just him, but everyone in the Keating Five has changed, from the stories Connor tells. Oliver’s not really sure what happened that made them do so, being that Connor never really considered people like Michaela as a friend, but Oliver was glad that Connor has changed regardless.

It made him happy. It made their relationship seem more real.

Another commotion came about the restaurant, and Oliver and Michaela turned their heads as Asher, Connor, and Laurel jumped out of their seats victoriously. “Sounds like a good game,” Oliver stated, smiling at how light-headed Connor looked.

“I’m not a football person,” Michaela responded, “but it does look a lot like fun.” She got up out of her seat and grabbed Oliver’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go watch.”

* * *

Oliver and the Keating Five left Buffalo Wild Wings about two hours later. Asher and Connor were drunk off their asses, so neither one of them could drive, and Laurel and Wes hung around each other for most of the time, but it was clear that enough alcohol was in their system. So Michaela agreed to drive Laurel, Asher, and Wes home while Oliver took Connor back to his apartment.

Once the duo arrived there, Oliver did as much as he could to keep Connor walking, though it was a tedious task considering how much Connor felt like dead weight.

“Easy, soldier,” Oliver spoke to him as he kicked the front door closed. “We’re almost to the bed. Just keep on walking.”  For some reason, Oliver couldn’t stop smiling when Connor kept leaning forward, wanting to either sleep on the hardwood floor or puke on it.

Oliver didn’t want the latter, though, considering that he just mopped in here hours prior.

“I-I-I can’t – Ollie, I can’t…feel my…”

“Hey, hey. Come on. You’re almost there. Just a few more steps –“

“Ah Jesus, I’m gonna throw up.”

Oliver didn’t take a second to wait; he just covered Connor’s mouth with his own hand, tossing their belongings on the couch and guiding Connor to the bathroom where the law student ejected a lot of stomach waste into the toilet bowl. Oliver stayed by his side and patted his back, helping Connor get the rest of the vomit out.

Connor rested his head against the edge of the toilet bowl once he was done. “Damn it, that hurts.”

Oliver giggled in response. “I’ll get you some medicine and some water. You stay there, and don’t get puke all over my bathroom floor.” With that, Oliver was out of the room, leaving Connor to moan and hug the toilet to his chest.

When Oliver returned, he handed Connor a glass of water and two pills, which Connor swallowed under ten seconds. They were in their spots for a couple of minutes before Oliver spoke again. “You need some help to the bed?” Oliver asked, still laughing at how distressed Connor looked.

“Yes please.” Connor replied like the little child he was.

Oliver pulled Connor up to standing position, holding onto his torso and guiding him to the bed, where Oliver took Connor’s outdoor clothes off, leaving him in an under shirt, his socks, and his boxers. Once Connor was underneath the sheets, Oliver got undressed and joined him before turning off the lights.

“Get some sleep now, alright?” Oliver whispered to him before planting a kiss to his cheek. When he got a “yes Mom” from Connor, he just silently laughed before falling to sleep himself.

* * *

What Oliver woke up to Saturday morning was completely unexpected.

He didn’t have anywhere to go that day, so it was kind of weird that he woke up at an ungodly time – 6:34 a.m. Great. But then he turned his head towards his boyfriend and inched his eyebrows at the sight of Connor clutching onto the teddy bear from last night.

 _So he did like it_ , Oliver thought to himself. He already told everyone before about how much of a sap he really was, but now he really knew how much Connor thought about the present. Deep down, he really _loved_ it. Maybe the Connor that Oliver saw last night was just the macho man Connor that the law student wanted everyone to think he was. All of the sappy love-bug stuff was reserved for Oliver, and Oliver had no clue on how happy he was feeling right now, though happy might just be an understatement.

Oliver reached over to his night stand and took his phone off the charger before snapping a quick photo of Connor clutching onto the teddy bear. Oliver couldn’t help but grin uncontrollably at the sight of Connor’s rested facial expressions and the soft fur from the bear rubbing against his chest and his muscular arms. It was like Oliver already had a teddy bear of his own all along.

He opened up his messages app and sent the photo to Michaela with the message, _it worked!_ Oliver would probably regret it once Connor found out, but right now, he was too happy to care.

Michaela responded fifteen minutes later with, _I told you so_ , followed by a winking emoji and a red heart.

* * *

On Valentine’s Day, Oliver had done some shopping to restock the refrigerator when he got a text from Connor asking if he could pick up some more supplies. Why Connor insisted on asking Oliver for a red velvet tie, some whipped cream, Maraschino cherries, a dog toy, and a big fly swatter, Oliver had no clue, yet he got them anyway.

Seconds before he fully loaded the car, he got another text from Connor asking him to go to Michaela’s house and ask for something he accidentally left at her house. When Oliver asked why, Connor didn’t respond. With a bunch of questions in the back of his head, Oliver drove all the way to Michaela’s place. Once he was invited in, Michaela and Caleb were standing awkwardly in front of the dinner table.

“Um…what’s going on?” Oliver asked, utterly confused.

Michaela inched an eyebrow. “Well, it seems to me that you have a special delivery that was sent to the wrong address.” She and Caleb stepped to the side to reveal a bouquet of flowers. They haven’t been placed in a vase yet for the purpose of Oliver carrying them to his apartment.

Oliver smiled at the two, retrieving the flowers from Michaela. “Thanks, you guys.”

“Michaela thought it was hers, but, um…” Caleb said before heading over to a seat at one of the tables, revealing another bouquet with red, white, and pink roses. “I think she got a little mistaken.” He smiled brightly once a smile appeared on Michaela’s face. Oliver couldn’t help but feel so happy for the couple before him.

Once Oliver left Michaela and Caleb to their Valentine’s Day activities, Oliver took the flowers back to the apartment, where he carried everything upstairs. Once he got there, though, he heard the sound of barking coming from the inside. The landlord didn’t have any rules about keeping animals out of the house, but the fact that the sound was coming from Oliver’s apartment felt pretty alarming.

When Oliver opened the door, he took in the sight of a white Labrador puppy with a black and red bow on it.

“Oh, my gosh,” Oliver exclaimed with a smile on his face, closing the door and placing everything down on the counter before he bent down and beckoned the puppy over. Oliver picked the dog up and kissed it on the head. “Hey little one,” he cooed. “Where did you come from?”

Oliver almost missed it, but he noticed a note attached to the puppy’s collar written in Connor’s handwriting. “I don’t know if you have noticed, but I have two sides: the side that’s as sweet as a puppy…” There looked to be more to the message, but Oliver couldn’t see another half.

Oliver placed the puppy down and started wandering around the apartment until he got to the bedroom. Four ballons were up near the ceiling, two on each side of the bed, followed by a red rose laying against the pillows. When Oliver turned his head, Connor was standing in the doorway of the bathroom in nothing but a black silk robe, some black socks, and really tight, black pants. Attached to a choker necklace on Connor’s neck was another note that said “…and the side that’s as sexy as a fox.”

“Oh, my God.” Oliver spoke breathlessly, blushing at the sight of Connor’s bulge making a great appearance.

“I’ve heard that my sexy fox side was the best,” Connor spoke with a seductive tone to his voice, “don’t you think?”

Oliver smirked, walking slowly over to his boyfriend and hooking two of his fingers to the waistband of Connor’s shorts. “I don’t think I have a favorite. They’re both irresistible, if you ask me.”

“We’ll see about that,” Connor responded with a roughness in his voice that started to take Oliver over the edge. The two shared a passionate, hungry kiss for the next three minutes before they released each other.

Connor tried to catch his breath before he whispered, “go get the tie and the whipped cream. I can’t let my dessert go to waste.”

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day, HTGAWM fandom. <3


End file.
